Freak
by pandorad24
Summary: After being rescued from the sewers, Evra has a nightmare. Darren offers some reassurance.


**So, I've just finished reading the first three books in the _Darren Shan_/_Cirque Du Freak_ series, and I must say, I enjoyed them a lot. But it disappointed me that the next book is set six years later, and Evra is all grown up and no longer best friends with Darren. Ugh! Evra was my favorite. So, I thought I would help fill in the blanks just to give myself a little more Evra to love. Sigh.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the _Darren Shan_/_Cirque Du Freak_ series. If I did, I would be very disappointed in _Universal Studios_ for ruining my books and COMPLETELY CHANGING THE CHARACTERS. **

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><p><em>~ Freak ~<em>

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><p>The scattered light of dawn illuminated the forest outside of the small cave where Darren and Crepsley had made their camp. Crepsley was exhausted after the night's events and had fallen asleep near the back of the cavern, far away from the reach of harmful sunlight. Darren was settled closer to the mouth of the cave, trying to sleep but what was plagued by thoughts of the girlfriend he'd been forced to leave behind.<p>

_Debbie_, he thought bitterly. _I hope she won't be upset when she wakes up. I wish I had at least gotten the chance to say goodbye…_

He was suddenly pulled out of his brooding when he heard a small whimper from beside him. He turned and saw Evra, who was sleeping nearby, his brow furrowed in a troubled expression.

Darren was worried about him. When he and Crepsley had gone back to rescue Evra from the empty sewer tunnel where he'd been held captive, he barely had the strength to move, but Darren could tell he was still furious about him supposedly trading Debbie's life for his. When they explained that it had all been planned and the girl was really unharmed, Evra had calmed down and passed out from exhaustion within minutes. They had brought him back here just in time for daybreak so they could all rest before heading back to the Cirque, but Darren wasn't sure the snake-boy would have the strength to make the full night's journey.

As he watched concernedly, Evra continued to whimper softly, and began to shake. Darren thought he might be cold, so he slid off his jacket and draped it over his friend. It was no good – he was still shaking like a leaf. He quickly came to a conclusion:

Evra was having a nightmare.

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><p>"<em>Eww, mommy, what's that thing?"<em>

"_Ugh, it's hideous!"_

"_Are those _scales?"

"_What a freak."_

_I sat in my glass case, huddled in a corner. Away from the strangers that crowded around, commenting loudly on how disgusting I was. As if I couldn't understand them. As if I were nothing but a caged animal to come stare at._

_Some children had their faces pressed against the glass, delightedly pointing and laughing and calling me horrible names. A group of teenagers stood nearby, sneering as they looked down on me, not a trace of pity in their eyes. The adults usually just glanced for a moment as they passed to the other displays, revolted at the sight of me. A freak._

"_Look at it's eyes!"_

"_Like a snake."_

"_So ugly."_

_I dropped my head lower and squeezed my eyes shut._

_Seven years. Seven long years since I'd been sold to a life in this sideshow circus, put on display for the world to see and point out the obvious faults I was born with. I was called a monster, a freak, and worse. The owner of the circus was a cruel sadist, who treated me and the other "freaks" like animals. I was starved, beaten, sometimes paraded around the tent dragged by a leash and collar around my neck so people could feel my weird skin, see that it wasn't fake; sometimes people hit me or threw things, but the circus owner did nothing to stop it. Not one minute went by in this place that I didn't wish I were dead._

_Suddenly, I heard a sharp tapping sound and looked up. There was a large boy outside, rapping on the glass with a chubby hand, scowling at me. A man (who I guessed was his father) stood behind him, looking around the tent uninterestedly._

"_Come on, move!" the boy ordered. When I only gazed up at him blankly, he slammed a fist on the glass, reverberating a sharp echo through the case. I winced._

"_What's the matter, son?" the man drawled, turning to face the furious boy._

"_It won't move!" He replied angrily. "All it does is sit there. It's boring."_

_Did he expect me to be jumping around doing flips?_

_The man sighed. "Son, why don't we go look at something else? See, there's a tiger over there –"_

"_I don't care about dumb scrawny tigers!" the boy whined. "Make it move!"_

"_Is there a problem?"_

_My heart froze. It was him. He would be mad, and then he would hurt me…_

"_The snake-thing won't move, it's boring my son," the man explained._

_The circus owner's eyes narrowed, and he turned to glare at me. "Is that so…?"_

_And then the door to my case was opened, his hand reaching inside, grabbing my arm as I tried to scramble away, yanking me out onto the ground. He grabbed a fistful of my long greenish-blonde hair, and slammed my head into the edge of the table that my case rested on. Stars erupted in my vision, and I could do nothing but slide back weakly onto the ground._

_The crowd was now watching me be punished by my master, and I could hear jeering laughter and crude insults being thrown at me from every side. He continued to pummel me, and all I could do was close my eyes and silently pray for it soon to be over._

_But I opened my eyes when I began to recognize one voice in the crowd. Standing at the very front of my tormentors was Darren Shan. My best friend. Surely he would save me; he would take me away from this heckish place. He had to._

"_Darren," I called weakly, when he didn't move. He just stood there, regarding me coldly. I felt a pang of betrayal when he started laughing along with the rest. "Darren, please!" I cried, but all he did was laugh as I was struck over and over again._

_Darren…_

_And then I was no longer in the dark circus ring of my childhood, but hanging by my ankles deep underground, listening to the taunting words of that Murlough creep who had abducted me, felt the piercing blade carve into me, hacking at my shoulder, my arm._

"_Just a dozen more scales to go, I think," the monster said, grinning wickedly. I shrieked in agony as he cut away another patch of my scaly skin. My freakish skin._

_The laughter didn't stop. I looked and saw that I was surrounded by them, members of the Cirque, Sam, Debbie, Darren… they were all there, laughing at me._

"_I should have just left you here to die," Darren hissed. "Freak."_

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><p>"No… No, Darren, please… <em>No!"<em>

"Evra, wake up!" Darren pleaded, shaking Evra's shoulder. The desperation in his friend's voice was heart wrenching. Maybe Murlough hadn't been kidding when he said that Evra woke up from nightmares screaming and sobbing.

Finally, tears streaming down his face, Evra jerked awake. Darren could see just how hurt and terrified he was when the golden eyes landed on him, and he felt a rush of sympathy.

"Evra…?" Darren said cautiously, wanting to comfort him, but afraid to do anything to upset him. He had never seen his friend like this. "Hey, Evra, it's okay, it was just a dream…"

Evra shook his head, burying his face in his webbed hands.

"Do… do you want to talk about it?" Darren asked awkwardly.

For a while Evra was silent, so he didn't think he was going to answer. But then he said quietly, "Darren… do you think I'm a freak?"

That was a weird question. Everyone at the cirque referred to themselves as freaks – they didn't take it as an offensive term. Did he want him to answer yes?

"Uh… I mean, you're…"

"Creepy? Weird? Disgusting? Ugly?"

"You're different," Darren said, which seemed to be the safest answer. "You're not creepy… Maybe a little weird, but who isn't? And trust me, I've met a numerous amount of rude, mean, perverted guys that are way more disgusting than a few scales. As for ugly…" He looked his friend over in the dim light of the cave, and smiled. "You're definitely not. You're unique, but not ugly."

Evra lowered his gaze. "That's not what they said…"

They? "Look, Evra," Darren said, taking the other boy's hands in his. "It doesn't matter what anyone says. You know and _I_ know that you're just as good as anyone else. You may look a little different, but you're the nicest guy I've ever met. You're my best friend, Evra."

Evra looked up at him and smiled, a genuine, happy smile that Darren hadn't seen in a long time. "Thanks, Darren… That means a lot." Then he grinned wickedly. "You, however, _are_ a freak."

Darren gave him a light punch on the shoulder, and they both laughed.

"Come on, snake-boy," Darren said as he stood, brushing off his pants. "Let's get started on dinner for when Crepsley wakes up. You know how cranky he gets when he has to sleep without his coffin."

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><p><strong>Ugh. Lame ending. I'm really not on top of my game today.<strong>

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment - I love all my reviewers, you guys make my day. :)**


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